Acoustic Communication in Insects and Anurans [Paperback]

H. Carl Gerhardt (Author), Franz Huber (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226288331 | ISBN-13: 978-0226288338 | Publication Date: July 15, 2002 | Edition: 1

Walk near woods or water on any spring or summer night and you will hear a bewildering (and sometimes deafening) chorus of frog, toad, and insect calls. How are these calls produced? What messages are encoded within the sounds, and how do their intended recipients receive and decode these signals? How does acoustic communication affect and reflect behavioral and evolutionary factors such as sexual selection and predator avoidance?

H. Carl Gerhardt and Franz Huber address these questions among many others, drawing on research from bioacoustics, behavior, neurobiology, and evolutionary biology to present the first integrated approach to the study of acoustic communication in insects and anurans. They highlight both the common solutions that these very different groups have evolved to shared challenges, such as small size, ectothermy (cold-bloodedness), and noisy environments, as well as the divergences that reflect the many differences in evolutionary history between the groups. Throughout the book Gerhardt and Huber also provide helpful suggestions for future research.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This is an extremely useful book for graduate students starting their research in the field of animal communication, as well as for lecturers preparing classes on animal behaviour, animal communication and neuroethology. . . . A comprehensive and easy to read treatise on acoustic communication, and in our university library graduate students are already lining up for a copy.”--Phillip Bishop, Animal Behaviour

(Phillip Bishop Animal Behaviour )

“Gerhardt and Huber cleverly span the history of classical neuroethology, but in doing so move the discipline forward by combining proximate skills with approaches such as comparative analysis using molecular markers. . . . The literature is certainly rich and these authors have drawn their arguments together with skill.”—Win Baily, Trends in Ecology and Evolution

(Win Baily Trends in Ecology and Evolution )

“One of the best recent books on animal communication. . . . . This book is remarkably diverse, yet this diversity was achieved without losing depth. . . . One of the best things about the book is that the authors generously highlight outstanding research questions at the end of each chapter. Many of these questions are not restricted to insects or anurans, but are more generally applicable. Thus, the book is a veritable gold-mine for graduate students looking for contemporary projects in communication, and the book creates a bench-mark by which future advances can be evaluated.. . . In a nutshell, this is a book that should b e on the bookshelf of anyone interested in animal communication or who wishes to develop lectures on communication for their animal behavior or neuroethology classes. It would make a particularly good book from which to structure an interdisciplinary graduate seminar.”—Daniel T. Blumstein, Ethology

(Daniel T. Blumstein Ethology )

“This is an extremely important book that points the way to the kind of science we can expect in the coming century, in which mechanistic and evolutionary explanations are integrated in a comparative experimental context.”—Matthew Cobb, Times Literary Supplement

(Matthew Cobb Times Literary Supplement )

“[The authors] emphasize a multidisciplinary, neuroethological approach to acoustic communication, ranging from cellular mechanisms to evolutionary theory. . . . In the short tine this book has been available, it has become a well-thumbed reference for my students. . . . I highly recommend it for anyone interested in communication by sound.”—Andrea Megela Simmons, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

(Andrea Megela Simmons Journal of the Acoustical Society of America )

“This book has many outstanding features. It boasts a clear writing style. . . . It is timely, comprehensive, and authoritative. The 1250 references alone would make this book a must-have for students of evolutionary biology, neuroethology, animal behavior, herpetology, and entomology. . . . It should serve as the definitive text in this area for the foreseeable future.”—Peter Narins, Copeia

(Peter Narins Copeia )

“This is an extremely useful book for graduate students starting their research in the field of animal communication, as well as for lecturers preparing classes on animal behaviour, animal communication and neuroethology. . . . A comprehensive and easy to read treatise on acoustic communication, and in our university library graduate students are already lining up for a copy.”—Phillip Bishop, Animal Behaviour

(Phillip Bishop Animal Behaviour )

"A valuable resource for any scientist of animal communications, behavior, neuroethology, and evolution. It would also be a useful supplemental or primary textbook for upper-level courses on these topics."—Northeastern Naturalist

(Northeastern Naturalist ) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the Inside Flap

Walk near woods or water on any spring or summer night and you will hear a bewildering chorus of frog, toad, and insect calls. How are these calls produced? What messages are encoded within the sounds, and how do their intended recipients receive and decode these signals?

H. Carl Gerhardt and Franz Huber address these questions among many others, drawing on research from bioacoustics, behavior, neurobiology, and evolutionary biology to present the first integrated approach to the study of acoustic communication in insects and anurans. They highlight both the common solutions that these very different groups have evolved to shared challenges, such as small size, ectothermy, and noisy environments, as well as the diversity of solutions that reflect the differences in evolutionary history.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 542 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (July 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226288331
• ISBN-13: 978-0226288338
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,014,927 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written and detailed. Fascinating., September 6, 2005

By 

Kevin J. Colver - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Acoustic Communication in Insects and Anurans (Paperback)

Although not an expert in this field, I find this book loaded with fascinating, detailed information on how insects and amphibians produce and perceive audio information. This book opens a whole new world of understanding regarding the buzz and clicks of insects and the vocalizations of frogs and toads. The text is detailed and scientific, perhaps best understood with some background in the sciences of biology and acoustics. This is not necessarily a beginners introduction to the field, rather a text for those that wish to delve deeper into this interesting subject. My thanks to the authors for the tremendous work they have accomplished in compiling and interpreting the many scientific studies cited and presenting them in an organized manner.